Abstract
Historical observations of the star P Cygni (B1 Ia+) show that the star has steadily increased its visual brightness between 1700 and 1988 by 0.15 ± 0.02 magn/century. If we assume that the luminosity of the star remained constant (as predicted by evolutionary tracks of massive stars), the increase in brightness must be due to a steady decrease of the Bolometric Correction and hence of Teff at a rate of 6 ± 1 percent per century. This ist he first time ever that the evolution of a star has been observed in secular photometric variations.
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© 1992 Springer-Verlag
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de Groot, M., Lamers, H.J.G.L.M. (1992). Observed evolutionary changes in the visual magnitude of the luminous blue variable P Cygni. In: Heber, U., Jeffery, C.S. (eds) The Atmospheres of Early-Type Stars. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 401. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-55256-1_289
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-55256-1_289
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